Reds provide quintet injury update

Liverpool hope to be nearing a fully-fit squad of players to choose from by the end of February, according to head of performance, Glen Driscoll.

The Reds have had to make do without the likes of Daniel Agger, Lucas Leiva, Mamadou Sakho, Glen Johnson and Jose Enrique in recent weeks.

However, Agger and Johnson this week resumed training at Melwood - while Lucas, Sakho and Enrique are all making good progress in their rehabilitation programmes.

Driscoll told Liverpoolfc.com: "Daniel Agger and Glen Johnson came through training very well yesterday and today, which is good news.

"It's just a matter of monitoring their conditioning in terms of their availability for games, and it leaves us with just three injuries.

"Mamadou Sakho actually had a tear in his tendon and not the muscle of the hamstring as initially reported. For a whole host of reasons tendons take longer to heal, but he is working hard and progressing.

"Lucas Leiva was due to be in a brace for six weeks, according to specialists' opinion, but yesterday he was outside running just over three weeks in, which is fantastic and shows just how ahead of schedule he is.

"Jose Enrique also had a complex knee issue and following surgery is in the process of achieving his final strength gains before he can return to training."

Driscoll added: "Without providing specific dates I would hope that by the end of the month we should start to get the likes of Jose, Lucas and Sakho back.

"It's normal in a squad of 25 to carry three to four injuries at any one time. Obviously we would rather we always give the manager a full complement of players to choose from but unfortunately this season we have sustained some complex long-term injuries and that's when injuries can build up as the remaining squad members have to play more often.

"Overall, we haven't had more injuries than last season when we had the least in the Premier League, but it's just been unfortunate that a couple of them have been quite long term."

Liverpool's defensive ranks have been affected most by injury this season, though Driscoll doesn't believe there is a correlation between the position of the players and the problems sustained.

"Impact injuries can happen to any players," he said. "We have seen quite a lot of syndesmosis ankle injuries this season, they are almost exclusively a result of impact or tackles and have been spread evenly amongst the defenders, midfielders and forwards.

"Similarly, you can lose a player like Coutinho for two months due to a high-impact challenge and a shoulder injury, so I don't think position is that important."